
451 




ro v'\ ^er\ ce. . Cl\ t \ ten' 



SPEECHES 



OF 

HON. Arc. BARSTOW, IlEY. GEO. T.'DAY, 

REV. A. WOODBURY, HON. THOMAS DAVIS, 



AND 



HE SOLUTIONS 

ADOPTED AT A MEETING OF CITIZENS 



HELD IX 



PROVIDENCE, R. I., 



DECEMBEB 2d, 1869, 



^t■/W ON THE OCCASION OF THE 



EXECUTION OF JOHN BROWN. 



PROVIDENCE: 
AMSBURY & CO., PRINTERS. 

1860. 



/ 



2^484 



A large meeting was held in response to the following call --^ 
^' John Brown is to be hung on Friday, Dec. 2nd. The cit- 
izens of Providence will meet at Pratt's Hall on the above day, at 
3 o'clock, P. M., to speak and hear such thoughts as the solemn oc- 
casion suggests. The meeting will be addressed by Rev. Geo. T. 
Day, Rev. Augustus Woodbury, Hon. Thomas Davis, and 

others. " 

Hon. A. C. Barstow was chosen to preside. D. W. Vaughan, 
Esq. and Dr. W. H. Helme were elected Secretaries. 



::; 1899 



REMARKS OF HON. A. C. BARSTOW.' 

Fellow Citizens : 

We are assembled under peculiar circumstances. A fellow- 
citizen has, in the judgment of his JDcers, violated the laws of a 
neiffhborino- commonwealth, and for this, stands condemned td 
die upon the gallows, and this is the day appointed for the ex- 
ecution. Before this, perhaps, the penalty has been paid, and 
»John Brown stands before that higher tribunal to which he 
niade his appeal, where actions are judged by the rules of Eter- 
iial right, rather than by those rules of carnal policy and civil 
expediency which often form the basis of human jurisprudence! 
Without arraigning the court of A^irginia, or presuming to 
anticipate and declare the judgment of the Judge of all the earth, 
we may at least be pardoned for assembling at the foot of a gal- 
lows to learn a lesson of duty, as we have often assembled, as 
Christians, at the foot of the cross, on which was suspended 
another malefactor. 

I am not here this afternoon to advocate insurrection or jus- 
tify treason. Neither do I counsel or appi'ove an armed inter- 
vention for the deliverance of the oppressed. Had I known 
John Brown, and been advised of his plans, I would, if possi- 
IdIc, have dissuaded him from the execution of them. I confi- 
dently look for the deliverance of the land from the damning 
guilt of slavery, but 1 pray that it riiay be accomplished by 
peaceable means. I hope that it may pass away from the 
Southern, as it did from the Northern States; but sometimes 1 
fear that God may allow some child of Providence to arise, like 
Moses in Egypt, or Touissailt Louveture in St. Domingo, be- 
fore our Southern brethren are prepared to loose the chains, 
and that in the conflict l)etween natural rio;ht and arbitrary 
power, history shall make another record that shall parallel that 
of the Red Sea. Believing with Jefferson, that " in sucli a 
eonfiict the Ahnighty has no attribute that can take sides with 



tlie oippress'or,** 1 shrink from the contemplation of it. 

if, having these sentiments, it be asked why I am here, I an-^ 
swer that I come in obedience to an inspired injunction, which 
has to me all the force of a Divine command — " Remember 
those that are in bonds as hound with them, and those who suf- 
fer adversity as being yourselves also m the bocly^ I under- 
stand the command to cover all who are bound, all prisoners of 
Avar, all captives in dungeons, all detained in custody for trial, 
all who are condemned, though on their way to execution, and 
•all who are held in bondage and slavery, or are otherwise op- 
pressed and maltreated. I am the brother of eVery such man, 
and am bound in a measure to identify myself to him and feel 
what he suffers as though I endured it myself. But I am es- 
pecially bound to sympathize with those who suffer for consience 
sake — those who look at a great evil until the sight of their eye 
affects their hearts, and links them, as by a magic chain of in- 
terest and sympathy and destiny, to those who suffer by it. 
Such instances of noble disinterestedness are rare in this cold 
and selfish world, and therefore when I meet with one I invol- 
untarily do it homage. I think I see something more than a 
shadow of it in John Brown. Call him mistaken, deluded, 
fanatical if you please, and let me admit your charges true, and 
■even then, with all these qualifications, I find more in him to 
love and admire, than I can in a crowd of those pi-udent, care- 
ftil, cautious and timid men, who crawl through the Avorld so 
softly that they leave not a track to mark their course. I like 
the men who, like Luther and Cromwell, in the presence of a 
great principle, or a great wrong, count not their repvitation or 
lives dear unto tiiem. 

But it is said that John Brown was a rebel- — that he com- 
mitted treason against the State"— and therefore has no claim 
•upon our sympathy or respect. 

But is rebellion synonymous with guilt ? I>oes it never find 
justification ? If we adopt this principle, we condemn our rev- 
olutionary sires, who were all rebels ; and of their number, 
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were such noted rebels that 
the British government excepted them from an offer of pardon 
proposed to the many, and set a reward upon their heads. But 
these were Massachusetts rebels. Let me come nearer home> 



5 

Jn resistance to the oppressions of the British government, 
Rhode Island led the van. Four years before the declaration 
of American independence, she struck the first blow, and drew 
the first blood in freedom's cause on the waters of our own 
beautiful Narraoansett ; and on that memorable occasion the 
man who commanded and led the attack was named John 
Brown ! Yes ! Rhode Island has a John Brown in her his- 
torv, whose memory is embalmed in the affections of all who 
read it ; and yet the act vhicli has rescued that name from ob- 
livion and made it immortal, was as full of rank rebellion, and 
coupled with contingencies as dire and bloody as were those 
connected with the foray at Harper's Ferry. But tvho and 
where is the man who could erase a line of that page in our his- 
tory which records the burning of tlie 'Gaspee, or allow the 
breath of suspicion to fall either upon th« motive or the act of 
that John Brown or his associates, who, on tlhe 10th of June, 
1772, Avithout law and against law — yea, in the face of threat- 
ened execution, engaged in that act of successful rebellion ! 

The facts are doubtless familiar to you. The people of 
Rhode Island were annoyed by the presence of armed vessels 
in their waters, and their commerce was constantly vexed by 
the officious and insolent meddlino; of Lieut. Dudinoton of the 
cutter Gaspee, which acted as a tender to the ship of war Bea- 
ver, stationed at -Newport. Complaint was made to Admiral 
Montague, stationed at Boston, \A'ho, instead of giving desired 
relief, answered, " As sure as the people of Rhode Island at- 
tempt to rescue any vessel, and any of them are taken, I will 
hang them as pirates." Seconded thus, in insolence, by his su- 
perior officer, Dudington continued to insult tlie inhabitants, de- 
tain their vessels, and make illegal seizure of goods, of which 
the recovery cost more than they were worth. On the 9th of 
■June, 1772, the Providence packet was returning to Provi- 
dence. Dudington gave chase. The tide being at flood, the 
packet ventured near shore ; the Gaspee confidently followed 
and drawing more water, ran aground a little below Pawtuxet 
on what is now called Gaspee Point. On the following- nio-ht 
-a band of men, commanded by John Brown, in six boats with 
muffled oars, approached the Gaspee, boarded her, and after a 
scuffle in which Dudington was womided, took and landed the 



6 



crew, and then set the vessel on fire. Suppose they had heen 
overcome, taken and hung, would that have altered the nature 
of the act, or changed the character of the men ? If this act 
of rebellion was praiseworthy, on Avhat principle is that of the 
present John Brown blameworthy ? Why should any man be 
proud of his relationship to the first John Brown, and at the 
same time frown upon the man who is moved, despite his faults, 
to express the least sympathy for the second John Brown ? 

It is remarkable that the only evidence before the King's 
Comm'ssion, Avhich identified any of the leaders in this foray, 
was that of a colored man and a slave. Immediately after the 
occurrence, Gov. Wanton dispatched letters by express to Ad- 
miral ]Montague at Boston. By return express the Governor 
was advised to offer a reward to any one who would discover 
the perpetrators of the villiany. The Governor's proclamation 
offering a reward of <£100 was issued at once, and bears date 
12th of June. As soon as the news reached the ears of King 
George III., viz: on the 26th of August, his proclamation wals 
issued offering a reward of X500 for the discovery and convic- 
tion of each offender. 

On the 16th of July, the Governor had information that 
Aaron, a neo-ro man who had just entered his Majesty's service 
on board ship-of-war Beaver at Newport Avas concerned in this 
foray, and forthwith addressed a note to her commander, desir- 
ino- that he be sent on shore for examination. Instead of send- 
ino- him, the commander examines him on shijiboard, under a 
threat that he will hang him to the yard-arm if he fails to dis- 
close ; and that evidence, thus obtained, enters into the page of 
history to immortalize our John Brown. I feel moved to give 
it entire. 

It will be seen from it, that Lieutenant iDudington waS' 
wounded by John Brown ! It may also be remarked that al- 
thouo-h the King's Commissioners had long and frequent sit- 
tings, and many witnesses were before them, there was no other 
testimony to identify Brown or any of his associates. Tlie tes- 
timony being placed in the hands of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court, of which Stephen Hopkins was Chief, they decided 
that inasmuch as Aaron's testimony was obtained under threats, 
it must be rejected ; and therefore there was not that probable 



suspicion of guilt, which is required to justify an arrest of any 
of the persons identified by him. 

"Aaron, a negro man and slav^, has dedared that he rowed from 
Providence the evening His Majesties schooner Gaspee was burnt 
toward Warren, where he met a man called Potter, oF Bi'istoi, in a 
rowing boat with eight men armed with pistols, guns and club^. The 
said Potter desired him to go with him. In consequence of Potter's 
de.-ire, rowed by his boat, until I came within quarter of a mile of 
the Kmg's schooner, that was on shore on a spit of land. I then got 
into Potter's boat by his desire. He told me that he was to join 
other boats, that was coming down from Providence, in order to burn 
the King's schooner that lay on shore. In about half an hour alter, 
we joined seven other boats from Providence, commanded as they 
informed me by John Brown. Immediately after the boats joined 
company, we rowed towards the schooner. Before we came close to 
the schooner, they hailed the boats and Ibrbid us coming on board, 
but notwithstanding that, we had orders to row up to the schooner, 
which we did immediately, and boarded her. I saw Brown fire a 
musket, when in the boat under the bows, and the Captain of ih'. 
schooner immediately fell from the place he was standing on. The 
surgeon that was ordered to dress the Captain, was a tail thin mai 
called Weeks, of Warwick. Very soon after we gjt on board ih.! 
schooner, the men's hands belonging to the schooner were tied be- 
hind their backs, and put in boats and put on shore. I rowed the 
bow oar in the boat, that the Captain came on shore in. I think 
there were five people belonging to the schooner in the boat. The 
Captain lay abaft all the oars. Potter, of Bristol, was in the boat, 
and John Brown, of Providence. Brown steered the boat ou shore. 
I had on a red and white spotted handkerchief, tied round my head, 
and two frocks on my body. 

A list of five men's names that were concerned in destroying His 
Majesty's schooner Gaspee : 

John Brown, Joseph Brown, principal men of the town of 
Providence. 

Simeon Potter, of Bristoh 

Doctor Weeks, of Warwick. 

Richmond, of Providence." 

Fellotv- Citizens : I have presented this scrap from our colo- 
nial history, not for the purpose of stimulating insurrection, or 
promoting treason, or to "stir your minds to mutiny," but 
rather to induce you to be just and charitable in your judgment 
of a man who, in his character and acts, as well as in his name, 
bears a strikino; resemblance to one whose name and fame we 
cherish with peculiar pride. Our John Brown was Jirm, re- 
solved, headstrong, rash ! Yea, even bloody, and we build his 
monument in our hearts and call our highest school of learninj'' 
after his honored family name. Was John Brown of Harper's 



Ferny any more, or worse than this ? Our Jolm Brown was- 
doubtless' somewhat fanatical. He ^^'itnessed the indignities of- 
fered by a tyrant King and his insolent tools to our persons and 
commerce, until his soul was roused to mutiny and rage, which 
conquered his prudence and impelled him to seek that redress 
for public wrongs which the laws denied him. His neighbors 
and friends disapproved the imlaivfid act, but loved and Jwnored 
the man. After awhile the oppressions which excited him to 
fanaticism and rebellion were removed, and then he became a 
canonized hero, if not a saint. So it will be with John Brown 
of Harper's Ferry. That great crime, American slavery, will 
by and by pass away ; and when it does, and we look back up- 
on it with clear vision, midimmed by any selfish interest, we 
shall cease to wonder that a mind ennobled by a strong love of 
justice and a conscientious regard for the right should have been 
moved to rashness by a desire to abate its wrongs. We shall 
then look at that side of his character which the gallows now 
obscures, and possibly find, as in the case of our John Brown, 
that it illumines the page of history that bears his name. :May 
God in mercy speed the day. 



REMARKS OF REV. GEO. T. DAY. 

Mr. Chairman and Fellow- Citizens : 

I cannot covet the heart of any man who does not feel that 
this is a serious hour, giving a special fitness to serious words. 
We who gather here to-day are not investing the tragedy of 
Harper's Ferry with public importance. We have been fore- 
stalled in any such attempt, if it had been in our hearts to 
make it. The whole country is already stirred. The press 
every where is making that scene the text from which it 
preaches its peculiar and varied homilies ; the marching and 
countermarching of troops, the proclamations and epistles of 
Gov. Wise, the noisy criminations and recriminations that fill the 
air, will not allow us quiet ; and men at almost every street 
corner stop and converse eagerly for a moment over the latest 
dispatch from Charlestown. We simply yield oui'selves to the 



9 

pressure of that strong and generous impulse which every man 
that has a heart under his ribs is compelled to feel, whether he 
will or not, and so come here to learn and impress the lesson 
of the hour. 

Let me say, at the outset, that every Avord I utter, I utter 
on my own responsibility. I am the mouth-piece of no party, 
the orator of no clique, the pledged supporter of no other 
man's opinions here ; and for anything that ii^ deemed criminal 
or treasonable in any word of mine, hold me onlv responsible, 
and charge no other man with the o;uilt. 

In the eye of the Liw before which John Brown is tried he 
is unquestionably a criminal ; and legal consistency doubtless 
requires that he should be hung. I do not see how Viro-inia 
can do any thing else than convict and execute him, if Virgi- 
nia is to remain what she is. His execution is necessary to 
maintain the dignity and supremacy of her statutes, and give 
apparent security to her " peculiar institution." I grant that 
Avithout a moment's hesitation ; thouoli I say nothing: now re- 
specting the mode and spirit of the trial which was accorded him. 
But the simple fact that he was legally hung need not damn 
him in our estimation. He has become obnoxious to the statute 
of a sovereign state, he has been proved an offender before 
what is called a Court of Justice, he has been given over by 
formal sentence to the tender mercies of the hano-man with or 
without benefit of clergy. There is no doubt of that. But all 
this does not of necessity impeach him before manly souls, nor 
prove that he deserves to be branded as a felon or executed as 
a traitor. We are still sent to study the law, and learn the 
character of the man. 

Not a few of the noblest names in history are associated with 
a similar condemnation ; but their nobility survives. Men, of 
whom the world was not worthy, have been legally hunted and 
hurried away from the earth. They were too great and pure 
for their age, and so violence hastened their departure to the 
bosom of that broader and better future where alone they could 
find an appreciating spirit, work in hope and enter into rest. 
Here they were cursed while they lived, execrated after they 
had gone to the martyr's grave, till subsequent centuries re- 
versed the verdict and sent abroad the truth. 



10 

Athens gave t]-> cup of hemlock to Socrates, the noblest 
spirit that eA-er graced that ancient state. The Pope and the 
Emperor, Charles V., imited in the blood-hound search for the 
heroic Luther, intent on crushing him and all his heresies out 
of the Commonwealth. John Roo;ers had his body turned into 
ashes at the stake where the fagots were lighted by the hand 
of the civil magistrate. Glorious, blind John ^Nlilton, whose 
eminent statesmanship added so much to the political wealth of 
Great Britain, and Avhose Cathredral-like music makes the 
earth glad, and shall sing yet another thousand years into ecsta- 
cy, — glorious old John Milton was only permitted to live in 
England after Parliament had impeached him, because his mis- 
fortunes made his accusers ashamed to take his life. Roger 
Williams could not live in Massachusetts, — for with all its loy- 
alty to freedom, the most liberal colonial government in the land 
could not bear his presence, and so sent him into exile, And, 
=^r^pausing long enough to recognize the peculiar grandeiir of that 
event in comparison with every other, — that development of 
majesty and heroism which is the culminating glory of human 
history, Jesus of Nazareth, died on a malefactor's cross. All 
these were rebels and criminals in the eye of the law. I do not 
^sk you to tell me what the verdict of History has declared them 
to be, while Humanity all through the lands has cried, A^nen ! 

I take the statements of John Brown, touching the service 
he was attempting to perform in Virginia, as expressive of the 
simple, unqualified truth. His recognized and acknowledged 
character, his well known antecedents, his final instructions to 
his men, his scorn of all attempts to acquit him on false grounds, 
and his frank, vmiform and consistent testimony, all demand 
confidence when he unfolds his plans. He tells us he meant to 
liberate the slaves ; that he Avas in earnest to break the fetters 
of a race too weak to break their own ; that he knew the perils 
attendant upon such an undertaking, and so provided himself 
with carnal weapons to resist the attacks to which he knew hipi- 
self exposed ; but that he desired and expected to avoid the 
shedding of blood. This murderous fight at the arsenal, there- 
fore, seems plainly an accident thrust into the actual programi^e 
of the drama,-^noi it all intended when he gave it its theoretic 
constructioii, 



11 

Tested by the law of Virginia, John Brown was a criini^ 
iial. But it is as no common criminal that he statids before the 
Court of Virginia and of the world. These six things will in- 
dicate the peculiarity of his position. 

First. His deed^ in its motive, aim and purpose, is not be- 
low the life prescribed by the law, but far above it. Virginia 
law neither embodies nor recognizes that large and sacred phi^ 
lanthropy wdiich venerates and works for humanity under every 
aspect and in every condition ; it has no reward or encourage- 
ment to give to the spirit of the Good Samaritan, which stoops 
at once to relieve and lift up every stripped and wounded suf- 
ferer ; — it only proposes to guard the lower rights and conserve 
the less important interests of one class of citizens ; it establish^ 
es and defends caste ; it leaves the great inherent ritdits of hu- 
manity without protection in the persons of the poor and weak 
and despised. John Brown would supplement the law ;^- 
Avhile it grovelled among earthly dignities, and scattered its fa- 
vors at the feet of a powerful class, and hemmed special privi- 
leges Avithin the enclosure of the favored citizens by its statutes, 
he fell back on the sanctities of an all-comprehending philan- 
thropy, and so rose into supernal ether above them all. He set 
aside the lower statute for the sake of loyalty to a loftier prin- 
ciple. 

Second. A common criminal is one who invades the rio-hts 
and lays waste the interests which the stnte has set itself to 
guard. He sought to deliver the souls which the state had 
agreed to spoil. 

Third. A common criminal is one who openly quarrels with 
the objects which the state is organized to secure. He Was 
only conscientiously seeking to give a legitimate and rio-id and 
difficult application to the fundamental principles of the govern- 
ment, as they are set forth in our civil corner-stone, — the Decla- 
ration of Independence, and in the definition of our civil ob- 
jects, — the Preamble to the Constitution. If he found local 
enactments plainly at war with the general principles, was it a 
common crime that he should treat them as somethino- " more 
honored in the breach than in the observance," and sacrifice 
the statute to the principle, — the local and vicious regulation to 
the luiiversal and sacred requirement ? 



12 

Fourth. A common criminal breaks the statutes for the sake 
of selfish ends, personal gain, and outward aggrandizement. 
He wrought in self-denial, braved the greatest perils, risked 
property and lite, accepted what is held as a most unmanly and 
ignominious service, and all for the profit of a people who lack- 
ed the discernment to appreciate the effort, and the ability to 
reward it. 

Fifth. A common criminal bears a character which calls out 
the special condemnation of those Avho are assailed by his deed. 
He wakes admiration in his bitterest foes. His manifest inteff- 
rity and heroism silence the clamors of the populace who are 
goaded toward desperation by the memory of their shameful 
cowardice. The jailor who fought him learns to approach him 
with almost courtly etiquette, and takes him to his heart in 
spite of public murmurs ; and Gov. Wise confesses, because he 
must, that he has never met such an embodiment of bravery, 
truthfulness, frankness, and fidelity to conviction. 

Sixth. A common criminal only makes the distant people, 
who read the record of his trial, shudder at the thought that 
such violent spirits are abroad, and breathe freer when the 
doors of the prison are between them and the world. Not a few 
of the noblest spirits in the country are daily blessing John 
Brown from the heart, and sending his name heavenward in 
their prayers ; and they would count it no common honor to 
share his prison and his fame. Aye, not a few of those who 
condemn him passionately in their open speech, out of regard 
to partisan consistency, or cotton consistency, or official con- 
sistency, — when once they let the heart have spontaneous ut- 
terance in quietude, find themselves exclaiming, — " God bless 
the brave old hero, after all!'''' It must be no common criminal 
of whom all this is true. 

On legal grounds there is no disposition to be made of him 
but to send him to the scaffold. The law can preserve its maj- 
esty only through his execution. A respite or a commutation 
of his sentence will put the institutions of the state in peril. 
But what a testimony is this to the character of laws and insti- 
tutions, that they can only reward an unselfish zeal for free- 
dom, bravery, daring, truthfulness, honor, and conscientious 
fidelity with a halter ! Doubtless the Covirt must condemn 



13 

the prisoner. But what shall be said of a Court whose condi- 
tion or character is such that it can only cry " Cridlty T' 
Doubtless such qualities cannot breathe freely in Virginia. But 
what must be the air of that sovereign state,-^ — Mother of Presi- 
dents ! Guardian of Washington's Tomb ! — that such qualities 
must be strangled into the grave the moment they develop 
themselves into active life ! 

Civil government has its claims upon human respect. I re- 
cognize it as an ordination of Providence. I own its authority. 
I do not demand perfection in it. But to build it up on the 
rains of manhood is to turn it into a Bastile, instead of makino' 
It a school where weak and warped natures grow rapidly up in- 
to strength and symmetry. And the duty of obedience and 
submission has its limitations. There is the ultimate rioht of 
revolution, — though it may not be easy to define the point 
where the duty to obey is lost in the obligation to resist. 
Somewhere that point exists ; otherwise many of the most glo- 
rious passages of history should be read backwards, the men we 
venerate will fall under censure, and even our own national life 
testifies only to a criminal and traitorous iisurpation. 

" We owe allep:iance to the State ;— bat deeper, truer, more, 
To the sympathies wliich God has set deep in the spirit's core ; 
Our country chiims our ieaUy ;— we gram it so, but tfien, 
Before man made us citizens the great God made us Men." 

I speak only for myself, when I say that I have little faith in 
violence or bloody crusades which aim at the enthronement of 
moral objects and luimane institutions. Good causes are not so 
dependent as to need bad methods. Sacred principles, faith- 
fully uttered, can wait, if they must, for recognized supremacy. 
I cannot but regret the employment of carnal weapons to inau- 
gurate spiritual forces. Guns, bayonets and swords, infantry, 
cavalry and artillery, do not seem to me very eminent Christian 
agencies. For this reason I cannot so readily endorse the for- 
cible methods of helping on a good cause. They who glorify 
the sword in the struggles of the past may point out if they can 
the wrong of this earnest old man. 

John Brown is to be judged by men in view of the princi- 
ples they have taught him to recognize, and the culture under 
which our civil society has schooled him up into his energetic 



14 

htanhoocl. Let us look at him in the light of that culture, and 
estimate him and his deed in the spirit of justice and modera- 
tion. It is evident that he began life with an American heart. 
His pedigree goes back by a straight road to the Puritan fami- 
lies of Plymouth. He nursed affection for freedom, and sym- 
pathy with the wronged and crushed^ from the breast of his 
mother. And as he grew up, he learned Avhat Avas meant liy 
that precept of the Inspired Word,-=-" Remember them that are 
in bonds as bound With them." In this spii-it he went abroad 
to take the teaching of our national school. 

Our Declaration was a reality to him. He saw no " glitter 
ing genei'alities " in its straightforward and compact sentences. 
He took its statements for sober truth. He Avas taught to be- 
lieve in fighting for freedom ; — for every Fourth of July ora 
tion has canonized our Revolutionary Generals. He was 
taught that it was specially glorious for men to come from afar 
and give their aid to an oppressed people. Steuben and Ro- 
CHAMBEAU, De Kalh and Lafayette, are names always spo- 
ken reverently by American lips ; and Avliat Avere they but 
prototypes of John Bkown ? They came to us from a foreign 
state, in defiance of compacts ; they marched through state af- 
ter state, making of cAcry Tory toAvn a Harper's Ferry. There 
Avere these tAvo points of difference. They fought and toiled 
for a people of the Caucasian type, still resolute Avith indigna- 
tion and hope ;-=^and their treason Avas successful. He struck 
for a sable and hated race Avhose spirit Avas more than half bro- 
ken by whole centuries of injustice ; — and he perished before 
the altar Avhereon he laid his vow of fealty. It Avas not sar- 
casm, but the plain honest truth, Avhen he told the Court that 
Such a service rendered to the eminent in society Avould have 
won the gratitude and huzzas of the nation ; — and Ave put doAvn 
failure at the head of our list of unpardonable sins. I do not 
ask you Avhether a service loses all its dignity and merit by be- 
ing put forth in behalf of the Aveak and perishing, and by fall- 
ing short of its lofty mark. 

That is not all the extenuation of his offence. Bold and ille- 
gal fillibustering for Slavery has been long connived at and 
loudly praised. I need only allude to the examples to recall the 
disgraceful history. The Florida Avar, the acquisition of Texas, 



15 

the crraspincv of New Mexico, the manceuvering foi* Cuba, anc^ 
the filh blistering for Nicaragua, have set the bad exam[)le, and 
naturally enouo-h suo-o-ested that Freedom had no option but to 
enter the arena of the duel, and fight it out with the very 
weapons which Slavery has chosen to Avield. And not a few of 
the bold, bad men who led these crusades, have thereby Avon a 
notorietv Avhich Ave agree to call euA-iable distinction. Is it 
strange that the example becomes contagious ? And, especial-- 
ly, AA'hen the Government, in Punic faith, opened the free terri- 
torA^ of Kansas, that ruflian slaA^ery-propagandists might rush in 
and driA-e out the freedom-loving settlers, and people the land 
with skxA'-es, and turn the fruitful soil over to the desolations of 
plantation life ; Avhen his OAvn house Avas sacked, his hearth- 
stone covered Avith gore, his OAvn life threatened, and the chil- 
dren Avhich si)i'ano' from his oavu loius murdered for lovino- 

J- ~ * r^ 

liberty too Avell ;t — is it striinge that he pkinned to end our 
terrible despotism Avith a sei'ies of bold and A^iolent bloAvs, be- 
lieving that a genuine lo\'e of man demanded the Avielding of 
strong arms in his defence, and that a true trust in God requir- 
ed the free use of dry poAvder ? I cannot justify him ; I must 
condemn his policy ; but let truth pu^ tlie responsibility Avhere 
it belongs. It is useless to look for the fruits of peace on soil 
soAvn as thick Avith violence as HeaA'en is Avith stars. That old 
Roman myth holds an eternal truth,- — Wherever Cadmus scatr 
ters the dragon's teeth, they spring vaj) armed men. They who 
soAV the Avind may bind the Avhirlwind into sheaves if they can ! 
I have done Avith John Broavx. History Avill take care of 
his memory ; and in the great Court of the Future, Avliere judg- 
ment is not Avarped by prejudice, and conscience is not clamor- 
ed down by passion, a righteous verdict Avill be rendered. The 
reversals of the decisions Avhich one age sends abroad are often 
radical ; and this case may illustrate the statement. His prison 
may yet be a shrine Avhere the emancipated race he died for 
shall go on reA'erential pilgrimage ; his halter may yet be cut 
up and distributed Avith enthusiasm, as suggesting something 
more significant than the sections of the Atlantic Cable. As. 
Antony said of Caesar, men may yet long 

To "dip their napkins in his sacred blqcd j 
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 
And, dying, mention it within their wills. 



16 

Bequeath in f^ it, as a rich legacy, 

Unto their issue. " 

It may be well for demagogues, feeding on popular favor, 
who condemn him to-day as a demon, to write their sentence 
with invisilile ink, lest the record be hereafter pleaded against 
them ; or frame it so that it may show both a Northern and a 
Southern side, according to the position of the reader. The 
clamor for crucifixion is sometimes succeeded by the swelling 
hosanna. The popular foot-ball of to-day is the popidar idol of 
to-moin"ow. 

'• For Humanity sweeps onward ; where to-day the martyr stands, 
On the morrow crouches Judas with the silver in his hands ; 
While the hooting mob of yesterday with silent awe return, 
To collect the scattered ashes into History's golden urn. " 

I stand here to say two things, and then I have done. 
1st.. It is a fitting time now to bear testimony for Freedom 
in the face of public clamor. I can afi^ord to be silent when her 
step is stately, her mien majestic, her work manifestly conserv- 
ative, when she stands simply on the defensive, or is pitied by 
the world while she bleeds in the Senate Chamber, struck down 
in the person of a noble Senator, and all voices are lifted in her 
defence and praise. I choose to come here in the day of her 
misfortunes ; to stand by her side Avhen men are doubting 
whether it be Avise and prudent to be allied Avith her interests. 
I take her with all her perils, and will repudiate no confidence 
when her friends commit excesses in her name. The Declara- 
tion is as true and as trustworthy here to-day as it was in Phil- 
adelphia in 1776, or when the treaty was signed in 1783. I 
will take Freedom, with all her liabilities, and recognize the 
duty of being loyal Avhen loyalty purchases nothing but re- 
proach. I do not think it necessary to ignore the " irrepressi- 
ble conflict " when the avowal of belief in it excites a howl 
of indio-nation ; — now is the time to recocrnize and assert it 
when a fresh and fearful illustration is curdling the nation's 
blood. There is such a conflict, and this is the time to assert 
its existence ; for neither dumbness nor denial will change the 
fact. In 1859, with the Harper's Ferry tragedy still acting 
before us, I wish to exhume and repeat the words of the Rich- 
mond Enquirer, uttered in the partisan heat of 1856, — more 
^han two years before the New York Senator had expressed the 



17 

same sentiment, and thereby drawn on himself the cliarfre of 
radicalism and treason. Thus spoke the Virginia oracle : — 

" Two opposite and conflicting forms of society cannot, among 
civilized men, co-exist and endure. The one must give way 
and cease to exist — the other become universal. If free society 
be unnatural, immoral and unchristiiin, it must fall and give 
way to slave society — a social system old as the world, univer- 
sal as man." 

I accept the issue thus tendered, and add, if slave-holding so- 
ciety " be unnatural, immoral and unchristian, it must give 
way " to free society, — a system promulged in the Deca- 
logue, exalted in the Sermon on the Mount, which has had all 
the past for its battle-field, and has the whole eternal futux*e for 
its scene of triumph. 

2nd. And this leads me to say that, in this Harper's Ferry 
tragedy, Ave have another appeal, more urgent than any before, 
to seek the deliverance of the Slave by moral and peaceful 
methods, and to do it without delay. Staving it off does but 
increase the difficulties and multiply the waiting disasters. This 
is the call of Providence to let Africa have a peacefiil exodus. 
The first plague has come ; the second is treading on its heels ; 
others still walk in majestic and solemn procession on the track, 
and they Avill speedily burst on us in retribution. The Magi- 
cians are busy Avith their enchantments, as they were in Egypt 
of old, trying to proA'e that the signs are only the fruit of hu- 
man juggling. Woe to us, and to them also, if they succeed ! 
If justice and love do not lead out our bondmen, there is 
another Red Sea before us Avhere our despotism shall find its 
grave, and the crimson of the Avaters Avill come of fraternal 
blood. 

Somehow deliverance is manifestly coming. That is hardly 
a question. The eternal laAvs of Providence settle that. We 
only decide Avhen and hoAv. We cannot long ignore the great 
question which Providence is forcing on our attention, — " What 
is to be done with and for the American Slave ? " We may 
send off duty, but it Avill speedily change its visage and come 
back calamity. The crisis is surely coming, if it be not already 
here ; and no worse visitation can befall us than that which 
comes of letting it go by unseen and uucared for. 



1* 

" Once to every man and nation comes tlie moment to decide, 
In tlie strife of Truth with Falsehood, tur the good or evil side ; 
Some great cause, God's new Messiah, — otii-ring each ihe bloom or 

blight, 
Parts the jioats npon the left hand, and the slicep npon the ripht, 
And the choice tioes bv forever 'iwixt lliat darknes- and that lijjht. " 

As I am horror-stricken by the experience at Harper's Ferry, 
as I Avould put far away the reputation of that terrible event, 
as I am smitten dumb with grief in view of a prospective ser- 
vile insurrection, — I would, therefore, have every man and wo- 
man, gathered here to-claY,go out from this meeting, leaving in 
the ear of Heaven somi new vow of fidality to the great cause 
of Human Freedom, — insisting that there can be no truce in the 
battle and no respite from endeavor, till the last fetter is bro- 
ken and the jubilee is proclaimed over all the land. 

In that great future which is coming ou, — amid those majes- 
tic events that wait to step forward on to th3 stage of time, there 
will be found no sadder epitaph on the tomb-stone of any man 
belonging to the present generation than this, — " Here lies a 
Traitor to the cause of American Liberty when she 

LAY prostrate AND BLEEDING, AND PRAYED FOR RELIEF. " 

Such a man's posterity will Avalk backwards with a mantle of 
grief and shame to cover their ancestor's nakedness, and every 
traveler who carries with him a heart will fling a stone at the 
grave. 



REMARKS OF REV. MR. WOODBURY. 

A few weeks ago, I saw in the drawing-room of one of the 
most respectable merchants of Boston, largely engaged in the 
trade with Southern staples, a photograph of a man, Avhoseface 
exhibited those lines of resolution and bravery which betokened 
1)0 common strength of character. It was the photograph of 
John Brown, and the owner, speaking in terms of respect for 
the subject, did not seem to feel that he would compromise his 
position, or injure his respectability by avowing his sympa- 
thy for the misfortunes of a convicted traitor. John Brown has 
Qow, doubtless, paid ithe forfeit of his life for his recent act df 



IS 

daring. We meet to gather what instruction we may from the 
mournful circumstanr-es. 

What I shall say will have reference to the man, the event, 
its cause, and probable consequences. 

1. The Man. — John Brown, a descendant of the Puritans, 
is represented as a man of no ordinary mould. Gov. Wise 
gives his testimony to the effect that he has never seen a man 
of more integrity, honesty and courage. It is the testimony of 
an enemy, and it is of all the more value on that account. All 
the cn-cumstances of the movement in which he engao-ed verify 
the declaration of the Executive of Virginia. However mista- 
ken we may consider him, he was still honest. However 
wrong, he was still courageous and brave. His experience in 
Kansas I need not recount. He had seen his house pillaged, 
his sons murdered in cold blood, his neighbors' property rained.' 
He was forced to take up arms, that he might exercise the right 
of self-defence. Those lawless and cruel outrages, too familiar 
alas ! to our knowledge, and blackening forever the pages of our 
national history ; the ruffianism of that border warfare, secret- 
ly approved, if not directly sanctioned by the general f-overn- ■ 
ment, seem sufficient to have maddened any man of common 
sensibility. Were he influenced by the desire for reveno-e, he 
had provocation, enough to have roused all the powers of his 
nature. But it was not all revenge. Deep within the man's 
conscience and heart was another and more forceful impulse. 
He felt himself to be one with the slave. He meditated upon 
the wrongs of an oppressed and injured race, till the idea of 
their deliverance excluded all other ideas from his mind, and 
he devoted his life to its realization. 

" He has borne the yoke of the oppressed as though it had 
been upon his own neck, for thirty years, " said his wife. Con 
ceive the effect upon his character and action ! " Oppression " 
says Solomon, " maketh a wise man mad. " May it not also 
bring a man who felt himself to be even as a slave, to the very 
verge, if not into the condition of insanity ? He considered 
the injunction of the Apostle to " remember those in bonds as 
bound with them, " as applying to himself, and he considered 
himself as the instrument of God for freeing those in bondage. 
So he took his life in his hand, asking no favor fi-om those whom 



20 

he considered his enemies, and even seeking no sympathy from 
those whom he thought his friends. He was wilhng to bear 
the consequences of his acts, and there is no one to say that he 
did not bear them bravely. Cannot we respect his motives, if 
we do not approve his methods of action ? His intention 
doubtless was simply the deliverance of the slaves. This is 
what I gather from sifting the various statements of the case. 
He wished to hold the owners as hostages and alloAv the slaves 
to escape to the mountains. There, being furnished with arms 
they could defend their lives, if necessary. But, if he contem- 
plated invasion, he had a parallel in the action of the Missouri 
invaders of Kansas, who captured the United States arsenal at 
Liberty, and plundered it of its arms to help drive out the set- 
tlers of the Territory. What did the government? Nothing. 
What has government done since ? Nothing. Might not 
Brown hope to succeed by the same means ? 

Remember, too, the injunction which he impressed on his 
men. " Consider, " he says, " that the lives of others are as 
dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, therefore, take the 
life of any one, if you. can possibly avoid it ; but if it is neces- 
sary to take life, in order to save your own, then make sure 
work of it. " Such was the man before the attempt. The 
o-enuine heroism of his bearing afterwards can hardlv be denied, 
when we remember his moderation, his humanity to the prison* 
ers, his calm endurance of suffering and his fortitude in the 
trying hours preceding his execution. 

In saying all this, I do not approve the deed which he has 
committed. The resolutions which we pass censure it. But 
we may certainly regret that a man of Brown's character should 
have been led to a course of action which in civilized commu- 
nities must be disapproved. Servile insurrection is not the 
proper mode of emancipation. Invasion from neighboring 
States cannot accomplish the object. We are not to do evil 
that good may come. We can advise no such course. We 
contemplate no such action. But, not the less can I, for one, 
help admiring many traits in the character of him who was en- 
crao-ed in these transactions, and see him as a noble, though in- 
fatuated man. This I have said on another occasion, and this 
I can but repeat to-day. 



21 

2. The Event. — -This has been determined to be the puu 
ishment of treason. It has been inflicted according to the 
forms of law. The student of history cannot but recollect how 
often it has happened that the judgment of the law is reversed 
by the decision of posterity. The most illustrious names in his- 
tory are those of outlaws, criminals and traitors, and many of 
the events which we ourselves commemorate as a people, were 
nothing but treason at the time. 

The early Christians endured martyrdom for disobedience to 
the law of the empire. Socrates, the man most honored in 
heathen philosophy, suffered death according to the law, con- 
demned for impiety and for corrupting the Athenian youth. 
He, too, labored under a sense of religious duty, and died, con- 
sidered as a fanatic. Who can read his speech to the judges 
that condemned him, Avithout emotion ? "Now it is time to 
be going ; me to die, you to live. Whose lot is the better of 
the two is hidden from all but God." William Tell, whose 
story, mythical as it may be, warms our hearts with the fire of 
heroic daring, was a murderer, having shot the tyrant Gesler. 
Charlotte Corday, that beautiful, heroic French Avoman, Avho 
did her part towards diminishing the horrors of the French 
rcA'olution, was a murderess, plunging her dagger into Marat 
as he lay in his bath. She was tried and guillotined four days 
after the bloody deed. Raleigh, Avhose brilliant qualities almost 
make us forget the laxity of his principles, was beheaded as a 
traitor. Lord William Russell and Algernon Sydney, men of 
unimpeachable integrity, whose memories are honored now. 
were convicted of plotting insurrection and even the assassina- 
tion of their sovereign, and suffered the doom of traitors in 
1683. Russell was a man of singular virtue. Popular and 
beloved, humane and just, he sought to free his country from 
the rule of a tyrant. His virtues became as crimes, and even 
closed the door of royal clemency against him. His Avife one 
of the noblest Avomen of the time, cheered the last hours of his 
captivity by her presence, and by her courage and composure 
strengthened him for the final hour. He rejected all means of 
escape, preferring to die, rather than involve any of his numer- 
ous friends in his misfortunes. At the time of his execution 
the croAvd of Avitnesses Avas immense, and a strong military 



22 

force was present to aid the civil authorities, and prevent any 
demonstrations of sympathy. His written speech, which he 
was not able to deliver, was privately printed by his heroic 
wife and circulated among the people. He died, says Lin^ard, 
'" a martyr to the lawfulness of resistance. " The civilized 
world is familiar with the name of Algernon Sydney. He was 
one of the first victims of the odious Jeffreys. He was a man 
of wonderful courage and force of character. Once called up- 
on to write in an allium at the University of Copenhagen, he 
boldlv put on record his enmitv to tvrannv in these memora- 

ble words : 

'' Manus haec, inimica tvrannis, 

Ii)nse petit placidam sub libertate quietem"— 

which John Qviincy Adams once paraphrased thus : 

" This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe, 
For freedom only deals the deadly blow ; 
Then sheatiies in calm repose the vencreful blade, 
For gentle peace in freedom's hallowed shade. " 

He did not apologize for his fearless language, but declared in 
a letter to his father, that " never havino- heard that any sort 
of men were so worthily the object of enmity, as those I have 
mentioned, I did never in the least scruple to avow myself to 
be an enemy unto them." When his time to die came, he trod 
the scaffold with a firm step, and met his death like a hero. 
" He suffered no friend to accompany him ; he refused the aid 
of the ministers of religion ; and when he Avas asked if he did 
not intend to address the spectators, he replied, that ' He had 
made his peace with God, and had nothing to say to man.' 
He then placed his neck upon the block, and bade the execu- 
tioner perform his duty." Eight years after these sad events, 
the sentence of attainder against these noble men was reversed 
amid the joy of a whole nation. Macaulay draAvs a brilliant 
picture of the proceedings in Parliament Avhen the decree of 
reversal Avas passed. Many members of Parliament at the time 
had knoAvn these men and been Avitnesses of their self-devo- 
tion, and no act was ever passed AA^th such hearty feeling and 
profound emotion. So do the traitors of to-day become the 
patriots of to-morroAV. 

Eno-lish and American history is full of such examples. Was 
not Cromwell's success gained by rebellion against the poAver 



Oft 

that governed England in liis time ? The very city wherein 
we now reside was founded by a man banished by the respecta- 
bihty of Massachusetts for uttering dangerous opinions against 
the authority of magistrates. And what, indeed, was the 
American Revolution but a successful rebellion? The men 
who signed the Declaration of Independence did it almost with 
the halter around their necks. 

The burning of the Gaspee in Narragansett bay, (the history 
of which our chairman has so vividly related,) wdiile upon her 
legitimate duty as a British cruiser, and before war was declar- 
ed, Avas " rank treason " against the English government. 
JoHX Browx — a historical name — was a leader in that enter- 
prise which was only saved from fatal bloodshed because there 
was no resistance, and only saved from being piracy because it 
w^as not done upon the high seas. I mention these things to 
show that there is a difference between names and thinos. 
Every age and every country have had their traitors, Avhom af- 
ter ages have called martyrs. Compare John Brown's attempt 
Avith what most of these have done, and if you have anv ques- 
tion respecting the similarity, give him at least the benefit of 
the doubt. Virginia may indeed arraign and convict him of 
crime committed ao-ainst her laws. But does not Virmnia her- 
self stand before the tribunal of the civilized Avorld arraigned 
for crime against the laAvs of Humanity and God ? 

Do we thus countenance disobedience to laAv and treason to 
the State ? Because we honor the memories of Socrates, Tell, 
Corday, R\issell, Sydney, Williams, and the worthies of the Rev- 
olution, do we countenance sedition, insurrection, incendiarism, 
murder, treason ? I need not put the question to any man of 
sense. If Ave expurgate from history the names of those Avho 
have loved truth and liberty, " not AA'isely, but too Avell ," we 
have little left to reverence in the life of the human race. 
When Ave go doAvn beloAv the forms to the facts of life, and feel 
the pulsations of the great human heart, we are able to draAv 
the distinction betAveen that Avhicli constitutes treason to the 
State and that Avhich we call fidelity to principles of duty. 

3. The Cause and Consequence. — What is the secret of all 
this ? Does not all this conflict come from the existence of the 
evil ? Slavery, in its denial of rights to a, whole race ; in its 



24 

influence upon the law ; in its derogation of justice ; in its 
Avliole character of oppression and wrong, is the teacher and 
the instigator of all these things. It produces the excitement 
whicli inflames the public mind. It institutes a most humilia- 
ting censorship of the public press, of social intercourse, and 
even of private correspondence. It sets the laws of the coun- 
try at utter defiance. It secretly plots, it opeuly avows upon 
the floor of Congress the most treasonable purposes against the 
State. It over-rides the constitution of the Union, and puts 
Virginia to-day in the position of a foreign country. How has 
it treated Walker and the slave traders ? They walk, unharm- 
ed and unmolested, boasting of their immunity from punish- 
ment, and planning new schemes of bloodshed, invasion, and 
piracy. Slavery loosens the grasp of the law from those Avho 
had been taken in the very act of criminality, and sets them 
free to follow the devices of fresh iniquities. How blind, how 
dumb, how weak, how utterly powerless is the laAv, when sla- 
very demands its silence and inaction I How vigilant and 
quick to act, when Slavery would use it as the instrument of 
its will ! Lovejoy, Torrey and a host of others whose names 
and memories are cherished in the hearts of freemen, have felt 
its terrible vengeance, for their love of liberty and justice. 

It should always be borne in mind, and History will certain- 
ly make the record, that Brown suffers as the victim of the sys- 
tem and power of the evil, rather than of the laws, which allow 
greater criminals to go free. It is the evil itself which makes 
insurrection and invasion at any time possible. It is the evil 
itself which produces the commotion and disturbance which 
many lament. The philosophic method of treatment strikes at 
the root, not at the branches. The two principles of Liberty 
and Slavery are ahvays at war. They can have nothing in 
common. They cannot coalesce. They cannot unite. There 
has been, there is now, and there ever will be an " irrepress- 
ible conflict" between them, till one or the other succumbs. 
There can be no peace, till Liberty triumphs and the State is 
p\mfied. The condition always is — '^ first purity, then peace." 

What are the consequences ? This, after all, is but an inci- 
dent — a part of a series. It reveals most wonderfully the inse- 
carity of a system founded upon fear ; the hollo wness of a sys- 



25 

tern containing nothing but wrong ; the weakness of a system 
whose strength is only effectual for evil. It calls upon us for 
a renewal of our vows ; for a fresh consecration to the princi- 
ples of liberty, justice, righteousness and truth. Doubtless Vir- 
ginia herself may learn from it to loosen the chains of her bond- 
men, and it may yet be hailed as the avatar of freedom to a 
State whose soil has borne a Henry, a Washington, and a Jef- 
ferson. As for us, let us be encouraged to do more and more 
for the education of public opinion among ourselves, that be- 
tween the North and South there may yet be manly and Chris- 
tian discussion without violence and passion ; that North and 
South may yet unite to make our republic a slaveless land from 
shore to shore. 

I appeal to the young men of our country, whose hearts have 
not yet been hardened by selfishness and the demands of cus- 
tom and convention. Let them consecrate themselves in the 
flush of generous ambition and hopeful life to the cause of a nax 
tion's freedom, counting all things as dross-^influence, popur 
larity, reputation, as nothing ! Let them be true to the instincts 
of a noble nature, and live for liberty and God ! 

As for myself, I can only say that I have ever been, and 
trust ever to continue, firmly opposed to this great system of 
evil. My opposition may not accomplish much, but I must 
obey my own convictions of duty. The portrait of Martin 
Luther hangs upon my study wall. I can almost see the loca- 
tion of Roger Williams's spring from my door-stone. I was 
born a Protestant, and on New England soil. If I ever falter 
or become faithless, may these mute reminders call me back to 
duty, and strengthen me for larger and wider labors in behalf 
of those in bonds. 

I preach no violence, no bloodshed, no internal warfare. But 
I try to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ — that gos- 
pel which teaches me that " of one blood, God hath made all 
nations of the e^rth, " and that every human creature, wheth- 
er with a white, or red or black skin, is the child of the 
Almighty Father. 

" Ho ! every true and living soul, 

To Freedom's periled allar bear 

The freeman's and the christian's whole, 



26 



Tongue, pen, and vote and prayer ! 
One last great battle for the Right, 
One short, sharp struggle to be iree ! 
To do is to succeed — our fight 
Is waged in Heaven's approving sight- 
The smile of God is victory ! " 



REMARKS OF HON. THOMAS DAVIS. 

Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen : — After the very- 
able and eloquent speeches of the gentlemen who have preceded 
me, mine Avill be of little consequence. I have lived long in the 
city of Providence, too long to accept the intimations of the 
press of this city, that svich a meeting as this for such a pur- 
pose ought not to be holden. 

I have been too thoroughly acquainted with the Anti-Slavery 
cause not to know what has been the course of the press fre- 
quently in times of great emergency. I am aAvare that the 
great majority turn to it for counsel and instruction, and 
what is said by A B and C, editors of our leading or party pa- 
pers, is for the time being, accepted and adopted by no incon- 
siderable portion of the community. You may, in regard to 
the press, reverse the oft repeated saying and render it thus : 
" The throne is greater than the power behind the throne. " 
But the private conscience of the individual must decide wheth- 
er he shall regard such notice or heed such warning. 

Twenty-five years ago, this Anti-Slavery enterprise, this 
movement for the peaceable abolition of slavery was commen- 
ced in this country. At about every step of its early progress 
what did it encounter ? Almost the entire force and opposi- 
tion of the leading and commercial press in the great cities of 
the land, while mob after mob heralded its progress. Bear in 
mind that up to this time ; up to the catastrophe which has to- 
day resulted in the execution of John Brown, none other 
than peaceful movements have marked its progress through the 
wdiole twenty-five years ; and \intil this time, no hand has been 
raised against the slaveholder ; but to-day a new prophet has 
appeared ; a prophet of the sword. (Tumultuous applause.) 



For twenty-five years have these christian men and women pro- 
claimed to the people of this country that slavery could be abol- 
ished by peaceful efforts, and Avhat has been the result ? I do 
not say that public opinion has not made great progress ; I know 
and thank God that it has ; but the government has made none 
—and to-day you stand with a government upholding and 
maintaining the institution of slavery, and with the people en- 
lightened and determined by all peacefol means at least, that 
it shall disappear. The conflict is coming on, and no human 
power, no glossing over of this matter can avert the final result. 
And, fellow citizens, we who stand for Anti-Slavery, are here 
to-night to declare anew the truth and the consequences of mis- 
leading the public mind on this question. 

It may go out from the press that this meeting is not worthy 
of the consideration of the citizens of Providence ; that the 
respectability of the city is not assembled here. I may grant 
it all ; but the eternal right and truth are with us, and to that 
I appeal. (Applause.) The men and M^omen, some of whom 
are here before me to-night, who commenced this cause, may 
be obscure in the estimation of the worldling, but under God's 
guidance, and by the declaration of the great principles of hu- 
man liberty, the cause has moved onwaixl to its present exalted 
position. And as an eminent New England writer remarks 
*' One feels very sensibly in this history of Anti-Slavery that a 
great heart and soul are behind these, superior to any man, and 
making use of each, in turn, and infinitely attractive to Jveiy 
person according to the degree of reason in his own mind." 

If this be true, and who will deny it, then the cause mea- 
sures the men, and not the men the cause. Men hiay repudi- 
ate it, but it will be at their souls peril. Ignore it they can- 
not, for it " rises before them with twenty mortal murders on 
its crown. " 

Fellow citizens, the duty of the North, if it desires a peace- 
ful solution of this question, is plainer than ever before. Let 
her no longer deceive the South. We must meet the South 
face to face, and proclaim to her the whole truth. The South 
will not thank you for the deception at last, for you cannot 
avoid the consequences that attach to the institution of slavery. 
v.If every man and woman here to-day were to proclaim eternal 



28 

silence in relation to this institution, the result would not be 
materially different. The cause is not in human hands ; it is 
not in the hands of legislators ; it is not to be controlled by 
mere machinery ; it is in the very nature and essence of free- 
dom and slavery that this conflict is going on, and neither your 
power nor mine, neither our recreancy nor our falsehood, nor 
the abandonment of our principles can effect the final issue. It 
is just as inevitable as the revolution of the planets, that we are 
approaching a crisis in our affairs in which it seems certain to 
me that the institution of slavery shall be shaken to its very 
centre, and no human sagacitv can avoid this result. 

What has been the exhibition to the people of the whole 
country at the present time ? 

Seventeen men take possession of a town of two thousand 
people. * * * Think of this exhibition of weakness of the 
peculiar institution, and you will see to what slavery reduces 
the great body of the people. There is no real courage in the 
South, with all their boasting, at the moment of peril, when 
their institutions are brought to the test. 

Thirty years ago Nat Turner headed an insurrection in the 
State of Virginia ; that was a warning to that State, and after 
the execution of Turner and his fellow conspirators, as they 
were called, the State of Virginia proceeded at once to call a 
convention, where they took up the whole matter of slavery. 
They debated it, and the ablest men in their legislature pro- 
claimed fully and completely, and that testimony has been 
handed down to us — that the institution was destructive and 
unworthy of their support. So they resolved after that debate. 
The people of Virginia did not listen to the voices of 
these men, but decided to guard and strengthen the institution^ 
and the final result of that struggle was a resolve to colonize 
the free blacks, and for this purpose the State appropriated a 
large sum of money to make more sure the institutioii of Sla* 
very. 

That insurrection, so startling, sprang from the breast of the 
brave Nat Turner, an unediTcated slave ; no white man com- 
municated with him ; the sentiment of liberty deep in the 
hearts of all men prompted him to final action. The terror 
spread from Virginia throughout the whole South, and under 



29 

the effects of that salutary fear, the convention in Virginia re- 
solved for a time to do something to rid themselves of slavery ; 
but, finally, selfishness, ambition and the love of power prevail- 
ed over all those good resolutions, and instead of taking mea- 
sures to abolish the system, they have fortified it more and 
more, and from that hour to this they have put forth continued 
efforts to increase its poAver, until they have at last come to the 
conclusion that they will make the institution of slavery eternal. 

We come now to John BroAvn, who has drawn to himself 
the eyes of the whole country. We cannot help admiring 
courage, fortitude, heroism, and his composure in view of im- 
mediate death. Such is the man who, by the statutes of Vir- 
ginia, stands condemned to death, and is by this time executed. 

Those who take part in this meeting are liable to the charo-e 
that they are supporting traitors and upholding men whom the 
laws have condemned. Gentlemen, in my experience and in 
the recollection of many here, this very State condemned a man 
(Thomas W. Dorr,) as a traitor, which the party opposed to 
that condemnation proclaimed throughout the length and 
breadth of the country to be a violation of the law of the land 
and the principles of human liberty. Those who now in the 
case of John Brown make the verdict of a court the final earth- 
ly arbiter of guilt or innocence, then maintained a different and 
adverse doctrine. They then appealed to the whole country 
in behalf of one who was condemned by the A-erdict of a jury 
and the law of the State. 

The simple reason why that appeal was successful was, that 
he went for the extension of the liberties of the people. His- 
tory judges men by their motives. 

But what were the wrongs of the people of Rhode Island 
compared to the wrongs of the slave ? See him stripped of all 
his rights, without a future and without a posterity that shall 
be better than himself, and tell me if the man John Brown, 
who " remembers them in bonds as bound with them," is not 
entitled to our sympathies. (Applause.) 

I am aware of the use that may be made of sentiments ex- 
pressed here, in connection Avith party. I appear simply as a 
citizen ; and while I acknowledge myself a partisan, I feel that 
this cause is too sacred to bcl made a partisan use of. 



m 

I would avoid shedding one more drop of blood if it is possi- 
ble, and I know of no way of accomplishing that so surely as 
by presenting frankly to the people of the whole country " the 
true and real, and growing sentiments " which you have to-day 
heard. 

The direct foes of the South are they who for political and 
party ends are crying " peace, peace, " when there is scarcely 
an interval of truce. Yes, when you can lull the howling tem- 
pest with an infant's breath, then will peace come between free- 
dom and slavery. 

While I deplore the death of John Brown, I believe that the 

event will be sanctified to the people of this country. I am a 

believer in the atonement ; in the eternal atonement of the 

good for the bad, and the purer, the grander, and the holier 

the sacrifice, the more lasting will be the result. Well has 

the poet said : 

" They never fail who die in a great cause. 

The block may soak their gore, 

Their heads may sodder in the sun, 

Their limbs be strung on city gates and castle walls. 

Though years elapse and others share as dark a doom, 

They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts 

Which overpower all others, 

And conduct the world at last to freedom. " 

I trust that our sacrifice is made ; but I have little hope 
that we shall not see our country convulsed by the flow of the 
fraternal blood of her children ; there is no way to avoid it but 
by the absolute and devoted adherence to the truth by the peo- 
ple of the North ; they have this great cause in their own hands ; 
they are capable, by moral means, of abolishing slavery in 
this country ; abolition will cure the evil, and if this course 
is not taken it will come to a struggle between the two sys- 
tems, slavery and freedom, and the result would be the ex- 
tinction of slavery in a bloody conflict. There is no avoid- 
ance of this but in the repentance of the nation. 

Fellow citizens, I have wished that no imputation should 
rest on this meeting that should impair its usefulness. I say 
solemnly before you, that if I had known John Brown and he 
had asked my advice— though it might have been of little con- 
sequence — I would have said, forbear ; you are doing what will 



31 

result in no good to you ; but to use the language of the poet 
again : 

" Our indiscretions soraetimes serve us well, 

Wiien our deep plots do fail^; 

There is a divinity that shapes our ends, 

Rough-hew them as we will. " 

Total as is the failure of John Brown in the ends which he 
contemplated, still the work he has accomplished has called the 
attention of the public to a deeper consideration of the great 
question which is now engaging every mind in the nation. 

Yes, fellow citizens. Harper's Ferry is but the echo of the 
shrieks for Kansas. If the slave power persists in its oft-re- 
peated purpose of extending slavery into free territorj^, and of 
otherwise making itself the dominant force in the government 
it will provoke a recurrence of such or similar scenes with very 
different and to them more disastrous results. The plao-ue of 
slavery has spread far enough, and stopped it must and will be 
and it rests with the slaveholders whether they will confine 
their institution to the States where slavery now exists, or ac- 
cept the consequences of their own aggressive policy. The 
choice is in their hands. May they elect wisely ; but in what- 
ever form the conflict may come, freedom is sure of final vic- 
tory. 

When Mr. Davis had concluded, the following preamble and 
resolutions were read by the President, and passed unanimous- 

ly :- 

Whereas, John Brown has cheerfully risked his life in endeav- 
oring to deliver those who are denied all rights, and cut off from the 
hopes of manhood by the statutes of slavery, and is this day doomed 
to suffer death for his efforts in behalf of those who have no helper • 
Therefore, 

Resolved, That, while we most decidedly disapprove the methods 
he adopted to accomplish his objects, yet in his strong love for free- 
dom, in his heroic spirit, in his fidelity to his convictions, in his faith 
in righteousness and in his God, in his dignified bearing, whether ly- 
ing prostrate in the court room, spurning all unwarrantable means to 
procure his acquittal, or confined within the cell to await his ap- 
proaching execution, and in his willingness to die in aid of the great 
cause of human freedom, we still recognize the qualities of a noble 
nature and the exercise of a spirit which true men have always ad- 
mired and which history never fails to honor. 

Resolved, That his wi'ongs and bereavements in Kansas, occasion- 
ed by the violence and brutality of those who were intent on the pro- 
pagation of slavery in that Territory, call for a charitable judgment 




^2 

upon his recent efforts in Virginia to undermint 
which he had suffered, and commend his family t ^ 
thy and aid of all who pity sufferinj; and reverence justice. 

Resolved, That the deep and wide-spread terror among the sup- 
porters of slavery, aroused by this handful of earnest men who were 
seeking the deliverance of the slave, shows how general and deep is 
the sense of insecurity and danger which the despotism of slavery be- 
gets, and furnishes a reason for the most prompt and earnest efforts 
to remove the cause of these perils by doing complete justice to the 
slave, and so disarming his resentment. 

Resolved, That as liberty is the inalienable right of all men, it can 
be no real crime for him who is unjustly deprived of freedom to seek 
deliverance by all wise and moral means, and it is only a fulfilment of 
the golden rule given by Christ, to aid the fugitive in fleeing from op- 
pression by any methods involving no moral wrong. 

Resolved, That the fact that resolute and estimable men are willing 
to risk, life even in unwise efforts for the freedom of the American 
slave, shows that a slave-holding State must always be in peril, and 
that the anti-slavery sentiment is becoming ripe for resolute action. 

Resolved, That we find in this fearful tragedy at Harper's Ferry 
a reason for more earnest effort to remove the evil of slavery from 
the whole land as speedily as possible ; that the oppressor and the 
oppressed alike may be delivered from both the crime and the conse- 
quences of sustaining such an anomoly in a free government, such an 
incubus upon national energy, such a barrier to true civilization, such 
a foe to the highest interests of man, and such a scandal upon the re- 
ligion which Christ has taught us to revere. 



\ 






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